Thorburn: Bzdelik's role pivotal in getting new CU hoops facility

That's what Colorado's new practice facility for the basketball and volleyball programs should be named upon its completion a year from now.

I joked this week with the former Buffs coach -- who was in Boulder visiting his son, Brett, a CU student -- that he is one of the athletic department's most generous boosters. Bzdelik has already paid the bulk of the $500,000 buyout of his contract owed CU and has worked out a plan to pay the entire sum.

A lot of coaches around the nation, perhaps even a majority of them, would have had their attorney attempt to negotiate that number down or taken the matter to court. Just as CU is trying to negotiate its pending financial penalty with the Big 12 down for choosing to leave the conference for a better deal in the Pac-12.

At the very least, Bzdelik and his agent could have tried to force Wake Forest to pick up the half-million-dollar tab once it became obvious that he was the ACC school's No. 1 -- and seemingly only -- candidate.

Technically, CU met the clause in Bzdelik's contract that stated he could leave without a buyout penalty if ground wasn't broken on the practice facility by the end of his third year on the job. In late March a ceremony was held outside the Coors Events Center with CU chancellor Phil DiStefano, president Bruce Benson and athletic director Mike Bohn posing for photos wearing gold hard hats and holding shovels. A small patch of dirt was even "moved" at that point.

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However, serious construction on the project did not get under way until after Tad Boyle was hired in mid-April.

"It's important for all of us to understand, without President (Bruce) Benson and Phil DiStefano helping pull these things together, it doesn't happen, gang, it just does happen without their support," Bohn said during the ground-breaking press conference. "It's essential what they're doing. They're stepping up, standing behind us and helping us. Everybody has a piece in putting this together ... but the key is leadership at the top."

That might be true and Bzdelik did leave before the Buffs' on-court rebuilding project was complete, but there's no question the coach's demand for better facilities three years ago is the reason the $10.8 million project is this far along.

I completely understand why some black and gold loyalists are upset that Bzdelik left for Wake Forest before leading CU to a winning season and returning the program to postseason play. My alma mater, Wyoming, is a notorious stepping stone school (Bob Devaney, Dennis Erickson, Joe Tiller, and so on), and it's a helpless feeling when a good coach on the verge of great things leaves Laramie behind for greener pastures.

And it's certainly not easy arguing that a guy who compiled a 36-58 record did a brilliant job on the bench.

But having covered Bzdelik from his first practice in October 2007 (which was held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs because Coors was booked up) to the final loss on March 10 (at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City), there is no doubt in my mind that CU basketball is in much better shape than when he found it.

The men's basketball APR nightmare Ricardo Patton left behind has been fixed. The program's grade-point average is now a source of pride for the athletic department.

A roster that suffered through growing pains when it was dominated by skinny, wide-eyed freshmen and sophomores is now littered with talented, battle-tested Big 12 players. With a strong senior campaign and a little taste of March madness, Cory Higgins will be remembered as one of the greatest players in CU history. Alec Burks might be the most gifted player the program has produced since Chauncey Billups. Shannon Sharpe could be the difference between 15 wins and 20 wins.

Bzdelik, who has a huge ego like any head coach, swallowed his pride at CU. He refused to cut corners and suffered through the agony of defeat after defeat while fixing many of the program's problems and building the team using high school recruits, including several who have higher GPAs than rebounding averages.

Now Boyle, a Greeley native who did an incredible job at Northern Colorado, has a chance to win 20 games in his first season at CU and perhaps get the Buffs into the NCAA Tournament thanks to the foundation his predecessor laid.

"Jeff did a good job there and they're close," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, Boyle's mentor, told me this spring. "Everybody's pointing to next year for them, and I think Tad can get them there."

When Bohn and former CU chancellor Bud Peterson met with Bzdelik to try and lure him away from Air Force, he looked them in the eye and told them the Buffs had the worst basketball facilities in the Big 12. To their credit, they hired Bzdelik anyway -- knowing he would complain about every little disadvantage until CU made necessary upgrades to keep up with conference rivals -- and provided him with new coaches offices, a new locker room, a new weight room and floor in the Coors Events Center, and the promise of a new practice facility.

If anyone should be upset with Bzdelik for bailing on the Buffs it is Higgins, Burks and the other players he recruited to CU. Instead, after an emotional week lobbying for Steve McClain (Bzdelik's top assistant) to take over when the coach left them in his Wake (Forest), these 19- and 20-year-old college students came to terms with the fact that Division I college basketball is often about big business and embraced Boyle.

Even journalism majors understand the move from Boulder to Winston-Salem, N.C., made a lot of cents. Bzdelik had two years remaining on his CU contract at $750,000 in base salary per year. Wake Forest, a private school, doesn't release contract information, but Bzdelik told me his five-year deal is worth about $6.5 million.

And, let's face it, being a head basketball coach in the ACC is on par with being a head football coach in the SEC when it comes to the competition level within the conference and national prestige.

No one should shed a tear for Bzdelik on the buyout issue. He can afford the $500,000 donation.

But when the Buffs move into their fancy new practice facility next August, perhaps coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance, it should be noted that Bzdelik had a lot to do with giving the program some much-needed momentum as it transitions from bottom-feeder status in the Big 12 to a potentially brighter future in the Pac-12.

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